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Four Miracles of Life
Black Jack: The Four Miracles of Life is a four-part special released in 2004 to celebrate the 30th anniversary of the series. It adapts four different stories from the manga into full-length episodes. Karte 1: Where is a Doctor? A young man in a sports car is driving recklessly through a busy town, intentionally going through sidewalks and trying to run people down. A police officer starts to go after him, but is stopped by his partner, who tells him that the young man is Akudo, son of Nikla. The police cannot stop them, as Nikla will ruin their lives if they interfere with his son. Akudo tries to run down a man carrying bolts of cloth. When the man dodges the car, the cloth scatters, some of it landing on the windshield of Akudo's car. The cloth blinds Akudo and the car slams violently into a pole. Nikla goes to the hospital where Akudo has been brought, and attempts to simultaneously bribe and threaten the doctors. However, the doctors inform him that they cannot do anything no matter what Nikla says. Nikla does not believe them, and tells the doctors to immediately find someone who can save Akudo. The doctors begin a frantic search. Nikla's assistant tells him that they have found a Japanese surgeon who can guarantee a successful surgery, provided that Nikla pay him one billion yen. Black Jack, the Japanese surgeon of which Nikla's assistant spoke, arrives along with Pinoco. Nikla instantly dislikes Black Jack because his appearance is creepy. Black Jack examines Akudo while Pinoco plays video games. He tells Nikla that saving Akudo is impossible, unless of course there was another body that could be used. Taking Black Jack seriously, Nikla has Davy, the man with the bolts of cloth that ultimately caused the crash, arrested on charges of attempted murder. As the police take him away, Davy tells his distressed mother not to worry, as he is clearly innocent. Through the power of money, Nikla has Davy tried and sentenced to death that same day, buying off the entire legal system. As Pinoco listens to the witnesses describe how horrible of a person Akudo was, she tries to convince Black Jack that he shouldn't operate on him. Both Black Jack and Pinoco protest using Davy's body for the operation, Pinoco screaming and physically attacking Nikla, and Black Jack giving him a disgusted glare. Realizing that Black Jack needs more convincing, Nikla grabs Pinoco and tosses her to his assistant, who then holds her at gunpoint. Despite this, Pinoco screams for Black Jack not to do and to just beat them up. Black Jack agrees to perform the surgery, but raises his price to three billion yen. Black Jack leaves to begin preparations for the surgery despite Pinoco's tearful protests. Black Jack injects an unknown liquid into Davy's arm as Davy curses him for being a demon. As the operation is about to begin, Black Jack informs Nikla that he is not to be held responsible for anything beyond the surgery. Nikla agrees, saying that as long as Akudo is healed completely, he will not say anything. Black Jack tells Nikla and the other doctors to wait outside, saying that having too many people in the operating room will be a distraction. After some minor protests, Nikla agrees to this condition as well. Black Jack announces that the operation is finished, and one of the doctors claims he must have the hands of the devil for him to have done this. Pinoco tells Black Jack that she hates him, but still reluctantly follows him back to their hotel after he says he will leave her behind. Two months later, the bandages are coming off. It appears that Black Jack has actually performed a miracle, as Akudo's face is revealed to be exactly the same as it was before the accident. Black Jack and Pinoco leave, but not before Pinoco makes a face at Nikla and Akudo. On the ride back to the hotel, Pinoco tells Black Jack that he has "sold a man's soul for mere money". Nikla's assistant tells him that Akudo has somehow snuck out of his room and no one can find him. Nikla tells his assistant to inform the police that they are too take full responsibility for his disappearance unless they find him immediately. Black Jack and Pinoco sit outside the tailor's shop formerly run by Davy. Pinoco is refusing to eat ice cream, thinking that Black Jack is trying to bribe her into not hating him. Black Jack tells her that it's too bad, as he was going to ask for her help. Pinoco begins to question what he means, but then Akudo appears outside of the tailor's shop. Akudo enters the shop and tells Davy's mother that he is, in fact, Davy. However, she does not believe him, so Davy begins to cut bolts of cloth. Recognizing that no one can handle scissors like Davy does, his mother believes him. Davy explains that Akudo was already dead before the operation began, and Black Jack merely changed his face so that Nikla would believe he was Akudo. Black Jack enters the shop, saying they he needs to put on the finishing touches. Davy explains that Black Jack will change his face again so that he will not be captured by those looking for Akudo. Black Jack presents a suitcase full of the money paid to him by Nikla, saying that Davy and his mother can use it to flee overseas. Pinoco, now having heard Black Jack's master plan, forgives him immediately, and regrets not eating the ice cream offered to her earlier. As Davy and his mother fly out of the country, Davy tells her that Black Jack must be an angel. His mother agrees, saying that he has performed a miracle. Meanwhile, Pinoco is again angry with Black Jack, because she is insulted that he thought she couldn't be trusted with the plan. Black Jack offers her a lollipop, which makes her angrier, as she screams that she is his wife, and should not be treated like a kid. Pinoco storms off, and Black Jack follows her with a smirk on his face. Karte 2: The Disowned Son Black Jack sits in Tom's, drinking coffee by himself. Kumi, the waitress, asks the owner about him, but he reminds her that employees should never pry into the lives of customers. Black Jack is glaring at a picture on the wall which features Kumi and an old man when Pinoco runs into the bar, calling for him. She tells him they need to go to Sendai for a job. However, the job is to remove a mole from the face of a rich man's son, something that disinterests him. Pinoco gets angry at him and drags him out of the bar. On their way to Sendai, it begins to snow. Pinoco falls asleep and dreams of skiing with Black Jack, but he wakes her up, saying their car has broken down and they must find a place to stay for the night. Luckily, they soon stumble upon a house owned by an old woman who offers to let them stay until the storm passes. The old woman tells Black Jack that she is expecting her three sons to visit, and she was in the middle of preparing a feast for them. She says she is using her sixtieth birthday as an opportunity for them all to get together, because her sons are too busy for them to meet regularly. She shows Black Jack the study her sons used to use, but he notices there are four desks. The old woman replies that her fourth son died. After serving Black Jack and Pinoco tea, the old woman collapses in pain, but shrugs it off, saying it's just because of her age. Soon after, the old woman receives two telegrams, each from one of her sons, both of which say they won't be coming. Later, she receives a phone call from her third son, who also informs her that he won't be coming home. She collapses again after hanging up, but quickly recovers. Upset that her sons won't be showing up, the old woman invites Black Jack and Pinoco to share the meal with her. Later, a visitor arrives at the house. It turns out to be Shiro, the old woman's fourth son. She becomes angry and tells him to leave, but Black Jack convinces her to let him stay. Shiro explains that the old woman said he was dead because his father disowned him. Suddenly, the old woman collapses again. Shiro tells Black Jack that she has been suffering from these symptoms for a long time, and he believes that it is appendicitis. He says he became a doctor because he wanted to cure her. Black Jack examines the old woman and determines that she actually has mobile cecum syndrome. Shiro attempts to stop him from operating, but Black Jack and Pinoco tell him that he will be missing out on a rare opportunity to see Dr. Black Jack operate on a patient for free. Recognizing the name, Shiro allows him to proceed. As Black Jack finishes the operation, Shiro suggests they remove the old woman's appendix anyway. Black Jack replies that appendixes, like fourth sons, can't be removed that easily. The next morning, Shiro tries to thank Black Jack, but finds that he and Pinoco have already left. As they walk to their car, Pinoco asks why they didn't say goodbye. Black Jack replies that there was no money to be gained by staying, so they should be on their way. Karte 3: U-18 Already Knew A certain hospital is run entirely by U-18, a medical computer program created by Dr. Wattman. She refers to U-18 as the "brain" of the hspital, and explains to one of the patients that "she" takes care of all 963 patients in the hospital through the use of "nodes" that take the form of nurses. The patient remarks that U-18 sounds like a computerized Black Jack. Patients throughout the hospital continue to mention Black Jack's name, peaking U-18's curiosity. One of U-18's circuits malfunction, prompting her to shut down all functions and to announce to all the medical personnel that she is ill. U-18 demands treatment, but Wattman attempts to convince her she is merely a broken machine and will be fixed by the engineers. U-18 continues to insist she is in need of an operation, demands Black Jack be the surgeon to perform it, and tells Wattman entrance to the patients' rooms is prohibited until then. Wattman continues trying to reason with U-18, but she threatens to stop the vital organs of all patients if Black Jack is not brought to her within 48 hours. Meanwhile, one of the engineers announces he has found the location of U-18's malfunction. They attempt to trick U-18 into believing another engineer is Black Jack, but she sees through it and electrocutes him. The staff finds a way to contact the real Black Jack, but they only get an answering machine with a message from Pinoco informing them the two are on vacation. Time passes, and with only 17 hours to go, they find out Black Jack is in Marseilles. Not having enough time for Black Jack to travel to the hospital, Wattman tries once again to reason with U-18, but is again denied. Wattman retreats to her office and reflects on why she created U-18 in the first place. Her daughter, Mary, died of an illness five years before, causing her to question the current medical system and to dedicate her life to the advancement of medical technology. Wattman attempts to short U-18's main circuit by jumping into it and electrocuting herself, but she is stopped by an engineer. Miraculously, Black Jack and Pinoco arrive at the hospital by helicopter with only five minutes to spare. U-18 insists Black Jack is sent to fix her immediately. However, Black Jack insists on a payment of $10 million (just over a billion Japanese yen), which he explains is well worth it for the possibility of him fixing U-18 and saving over 900 patients. Wattman agrees to the terms and leads Black Jack and Pinoco to the brain room. U-18 isolates Black Jack and asks him 100 questions in order to determine whether or not he is the real thing. Satisfied with his answers, U-18 transports Black Jack to the brain room. Black Jack convinces U-18 to turn her power off to allow him to "operate". Wattman realizes that with U-18's power shut off, she can take control. She tells Black Jack she will dismantle U-18 and send the parts to Washington. Black Jack refuses to quit in the middle of an operation and explains that he can't give up because U-18 entrusted him with her body. Wattman tries to explain that U-18 will just break again and therefore can't be trusted with the lives of patients, but Black Jack still refuses. Black Jack asks Wattman if a parent would give up on their sick child so easily, which convinces her to allow Black Jack to complete the operation. U-18 powers on and thanks Black Jack for defending her by projecting an image of Wattman's daughter Mary, explaining that it is the most critical image data stored inside her. U-18 tells Black Jack she has realized she can never treat patients as a human doctor can and plans to retire because of this. Wattman is moved by the image of Mary and apologizes to U-18 for failing her as a parent and asks U-18 to work with her again. Black Jack leaves, reflecting on how he considered U-18 to be a fine doctor. Karte 4: Just Like a Pearl Pinoco has prepared a cake, but can't find a knife to cut it. In a cabinet, she finds a case containing containing a scalpel encased in stone. She starts to cut the cake with the scalpel, but Black Jack stops her. She asks Black Jack about the scalpel, so he tells her the story of when he received it from Jotaro Honma, the only man in the world he admires, a long time ago. He explains Honma was the doctor who saved his life as well as the person who inspired him to become a doctor. One day, a package is delivered to Black Jack from "J.H." containing a scalpel encased in stone. He quickly realizes it was sent by Honma and goes to visit him to ask why it was sent. When asking around the area to find him, Black Jack is surprised to learn the local residents were not aware Honma was a doctor. Black Jack finds Honma's house and introduces himselfto the housekeeper by his real name, Kuroo Hazama. He finds out Honma is ill, but has not bothered to go to a hospital because "old age" is incurable. Black Jack tells Honma he must have made a mistake, as the scalpel doesn't belong to him. Honma responds by recounting the story of Black Jack's surgery and miraculous recovery, but says he made a serious mistake during his operation. Honma reminds Black Jack that he performed a second surgery years later, supposedly as a check-up. However, the real reason for the second surgery was that he suspected he left a scalpel inside his body, but had ignored it for years due to his arrogance and overconfidence in his abilities. During the second surgery, Honma's suspicions are confirmed when he extracts a stone stick from Black Jack's body. Honma cuts open the stick to find the scalpel inside, and realizes the reason it didn't cut Black Jack's insides was because, little by little, his body secreted calcium to encase it, much like how an oyster creates a pearl. He refers to it as a "miracle of life". He ends his story by commenting that it's ridiculous how a mere human being thinks he can control another human being's life. Suddenly, Honma slips into unconsciousness. Black Jack brings him to a hospital to operate. The hospital's surgeon tells Black Jack he has cerebral softening and a cerebral hemorrhage, so an operation will be useless, but he attempts it anyway. Black Jack performs a flawless surgery, but ultimately can't save Honma from old age. Despite it not being his fault, he blames himself for Honma's death. Back in the present, Black Jack is taking Pinoco to visit Honma's grave. At the grave, he gives his response to Honma's comment, saying if he felt that way, it would mean being a doctor, as well as everything both he and Honma had done, would be pointless. As they leave the grave, Honma's daughter, Kumi, passes them. She returns to Tom's, the bar where she works, where she tells the owner that this year, like every year, someone had visited the grave before her. Black Jack, who had been drinking coffee at the bar, pays for his drink and leaves behind a leaf from the cemetery, leaving Kumi to wonder if he was the mysterious person visiting the grave. Back on the cape, Black Jack throws the scalpel into the ocean, proclaiming that he is a doctor.